Content warning: This article contains references to sexual assault and violence.

There is a distinct melancholic exhaustion in the eyes of the hundreds of suited young men walking around campus during the first half of the semester. They spend their days in classes, doing homework and participating in other extracurriculars. They then spend their nights rushing fraternities, being subjected to excessive drinking, physical labor and eventually — if they make it through the process — paying demanding dues. One of the frats at USC, Tau Kappa Epsilon, requires non-residential members to pay $3,200 per semester. 

Young American men aged 15-24 are roughly four times more likely to take their own lives than young women of the same age group, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. Moreover, 62,000 men die due to alcohol-related reasons a year, compared to 26,000 women. 

It seems like this disproportionality is related to the fatal standards of masculinity instilled in American men, from playground norms to workplace dynamics. Despite this, women are nearly two times more likely to receive mental health assistance or treatment.

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In her groundbreaking book “The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love,” American critical scholar bell hooks claims that the patriarchy creates boys who become men in a society which disguises violence and aggression as loving brotherhood and masculinity. 

She argues for reconstructing masculinity into a system that prioritizes kindness and emotional vulnerability, raising men with strong support systems. hooks writes that “when culture is based on a dominator model, not only will it be violent, but it will frame all relationships as power struggles.” 

The fraternal hierarchy is undoubtedly a domineering system, from the control the “pledge masters” have on the pledges to the hefty financial ties members have to the organization. She argues community must be built on strong vulnerability and emotional ties to one another; it must be built on inclusion and celebration of individuality and diversity of experiences, race, class and thought. 

To re-enter our social sphere, male community or brotherhood is often associated with fraternity culture. American fraternities have made national news time after time, from the alleged gang rape and roofieing that took place at Cornell University’s Chi Phi to a Dartmouth student’s death allegedly taking place in a fraternity hazing event. This perception of fraternity culture defines American brotherhood as violent, abusive and disturbing. 

However, in a statement from Jackson Knox, president of the University Park Interfraternity Council and a junior majoring in political science, “fraternal structure promotes emotional vulnerability. A strong fraternity is marked by its members’ availability to each other as a support system to rely on through the ups and downs of human life.” 

Knox also says he has “not witnessed” instances where cultural or racial differences create barriers that would inhibit connections among members. 

Still, American fraternities, like most white American institutions, have roots of inherent exclusionary racism. The first existence of Greek life in the United States was the creation of Phi Beta Kappa at William and Mary in 1776. It wasn’t until 1906, 130 years later, that the first of the Divine 9 — a historically Black National Pan-Hellenic Council — was founded at Cornell University. 

The UPIFC does not track the racial or socio-economic demographics of its members, but from an observer’s perspective, it is clear that its membership is overwhelmingly white. 

Anecdotes of racism and classism run rampant through U.S. Greek life, from blackface allegations to socio-economic exclusion — a Princeton Study found that 95% of the members of Greek Life came from the richest quarter of the United States —  of all those who can’t afford the expensive dues. 

In my research for this article, I encountered pledges — both still rushing and dropping — who were deeply unhappy and even disturbed by their experience of rushing, yet they refused to do an interview with me. They feared for their own social safety; even if they didn’t plan to join the fraternity, they refused to speak out against it. 

This is not what young men deserve when seeking out community. Our country, especially when we have a leader who says things like “grab them by the pussy,” is in desperate need of emotionally mature, confident and intelligent men. The current state of American fraternities cannot transform teenage boys into men that will counter damaging patriarchy. There must be reform, there must be loving kindness and there must be space for male vulnerability. 

If you are in need of support, here are some resources you can contact: USC Relationship and Sexual Violence Prevention and Services: Located at Engemann Student Health Center Suite 356. Individuals can call (213)-740-9355 and request to speak with an advocate or counselor. Services are confidential. Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN): A free, confidential hotline that is active 24/7. Individuals can call (800)-656-4673.